Earth & Back Again, or Maturity
by etimeturner
Summary: A storm at the brothers' old home leads a newly-returned Edward to the door of Roy's office, leading to much dancing about with emotions. For a friend, RoyEd.


Alright, so I was coerced into writing this for my friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Annica!). Unfortunately I haven't had either the time nor access to the first anime and consequent movie to know all of what's happened exactly, so this might come across as more AU than it should (for starters, nothing's happened to Roy or Havoc, and let's imagine for convenience's sake that Al is perfectly fine and has all his memories; plus, I think I've shuffled things). That said, please just enjoy.

-etimeturner

**Earth and Back Again**

**or ****Maturity**

**(RoyEd)**

The Elric house, or what was left of it, stood forlornly on the edge of town, the burnt-out wreck a silent, unmoving reminder of the tragedy surrounding the Elric family. No one dared go near it, not even animals. The children of the town invented ghost stories about why it was so abandoned, and even dared each other to go inside, though no one did. Nothing stirred within its blackened walls.

This overcast, gloomy day it was business as usual in the bustling town, perhaps a little muted by the weather, as storm clouds rapidly gathered directly over the silent Elric home. Rain started to pour, sending the people scurrying for cover. Unnatural lightning flared across the sky and thunder rumbled as the clouds centred over the Elric house crackled and sparked. Suddenly someone nearby screamed in fright as a bolt of blue lightning struck the house with a deafening bang, collapsing the roof inwards amidst a cloud of dust and smoke.

After the dust had settled one word could be heard from the wreckage of the old Elric home:

"_Alphonse!_"

General Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist and Hero of the People, more commonly known as Mustang by his loyal team –or 'bastard' by a certain former member of his team- was having yet another terrible day. Though there were perks to being a General, one thing you couldn't get out of was the paperwork, and Roy was snowed in. To make matters worse, he'd been saddled with a pile of Edward Elric sightings- he counted six in this month alone, from the poor buggers who didn't know that he'd run off to another universe and wasn't coming back.

He sighed again, shoving the report marked 'SIGHTING IN LIOR' aside and rubbing his eyes tiredly. The reports could wait, he reasoned, not bothering to stifle a yawn as he settled back in his chair for a rest, well-earned in his opinion. He was sick of reading about false sightings of his alchemist. Edward was gone from this world.

The report lying beneath that from Lior was entitled, 'IMPORTANT- CONFIRMED EDWARD ELRIC SIGHTING IN RESEMBOOL'.

Perhaps an hour later Roy woke to a muffled bang, followed soon after by excited chatter, leaking through the gap under the door to his office. Grumbling angrily as he rubbed his eyes and got up- it was near finishing time anyway according to his clock, but it didn't hurt to make sure everyone knew who was in charge once in a while- he swung open the door and was met with next to no acknowledgement, stopping him in his tracks. Only Havoc, sitting across the room from him at his desk, had noticed him come in, gifting Roy with a huge smile without even the usual cigarette hanging from his mouth. That was odd- nowadays Havoc only gave him pitying smiles, as if he knew the reason for the gaping void left in Roy's heart a year ago- but no one did, he'd made sure of that.

Wordlessly Havoc pointed to the corner of the room where the rest of the team were gathered behind a corner, blocking Roy's view. He could hear laughter, even Riza's quiet chuckles that he rarely heard these days, but he could fathom no reason for everyone's apparent delight.

Making a decision, Roy walked around the desks to the corner in question, walking forward to peer over Fuery's shoulder to find-

Roy's stomach lurched as he stopped in his tracks, shocked speechless. A teen with hair a shade of gold he could never forget, a red coat slung easily over his shoulders, laughing and gesturing with his hands as he talked, the others laughing blissfully -

And then golden eyes met his own, and he nearly stopped breathing. Edward Elric stopped talking immediately, his eyes locked with Roy's, as the others around began to notice their commanding officer as being present and respectfully vanished from the vicinity within the space of a second.

And then, incredibly, Edward smiled. At Roy Mustang.

"Mustang," he greeted. "Nice to see you again," he said genuinely, tucking his hands in his pockets cheerfully as he stood up. Roy blinked.

"Fullmetal. You grew." He blinked once more. "You might actually reach my shoulder." And it was true; Edward had actually grown perhaps a foot, reaching average stature for a teen his age, and had grown into a lean, tanned build that, actually, was quite easy on the eyes.

"Trust you to say that," Edward rolled his eyes, only a small amount of annoyance showing on his features, and certainly nowhere near the explosions of rage from his younger days. Roy narrowed his eyes, Ed obligingly putting up with the staring as Roy processed the changes wrought by time. Ed's hair was a longer by a couple of inches, and thrown back in a loose ponytail that reminded him a lot more of Hohenheim than Ed usually liked to depict himself as. He looked- more comfortable with himself, more confident, and he appeared to be more easygoing now than the young, stubborn hothead Roy had known. Over a white shirt, brown pants and vest and a pair of black boots, Ed still wore the same red coat with the Flamel symbol on the back, but it appeared to be quite short on him now.

"I've been meaning to get some extra material for it, after I found it when we landed back in our old house," Edward broke in to Roy's thoughts, noticing where his gaze had travelled. "I've yet to get Alphonse back for spiking my food with milk." Roy smirked at the hint of irritation in Ed's voice, before frowning.

"Fullmetal- how exactly did you get back here? I gather Alphonse came as well." Edward sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes tiredly.

"It's complicated- we don't actually know how yet, or why we landed back at our house- neither of us remembers what happened just before we got back here. Mustang- I also don't know why, but for us, it's been two years, not one." Roy blinked in surprise.

"What?" he asked, honestly surprised. Though that would account for the rapid changes-

"Yeah," Ed affirmed a little ruefully, "I'm a little more than week off twenty now, actually. It's weird, seeing you all so the same." Roy filed that titbit of information away for further puzzlement, as Ed continued, "Alphonse is still in Resembool, catching up with Pinako- and Winry." His eyes showed a little mirth at this. "He was supposed to ring before I got here, but the train came early." On cue, the phone rang in Mustang's office. Ed smirked. "That'll be him now."

Grumbling slightly to stay in character, his mind frantically processing changes, analysing differences and similarities, Roy strode back into his office and picked up the phone.

"Alphonse?" he asked wryly.

"_Colonel? It's good to hear your voice- but I thought you'd be more surprised. How did you know-"_

A pause.

"_Ed's already there, isn't he."_

"Apparently his train got in early," Roy confirmed. Alphonse sighed resignedly on the other end of the line.

"_Alright, thank you Colonel. Call me if he causes any trouble."_

"Will do." He hung up, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

Roy leaned heavily against the wide windowsill, nursing a half-empty coffee mug and the beginnings of a migraine as he stared out at the city in the late afternoon light. He felt overwhelmed amidst the party atmosphere surrounding him. Ed- Fullmetal- had returned; how, he couldn't imagine.

"Hey." A voice he knew all too well startled him out of his daze. "Can I join you?" Wordlessly he shifted to one side as the blond seated himself opposite Roy, knees drawn up to his chest. Roy glanced over to the teen who looked out over the city with fond eyes, overwhelmed once more by how much he'd matured; temper tantrums over his height ceased, probably as a result of a growth spurt, he was no longer a child; the afternoon light captured in his golden hair and casting the lithe muscles of his shoulder into sharp definition. He shifted awkwardly.

"Fullmetal-"

"Call me Ed, will you?" Ed interrupted, looking at him a little apologetically. "You always call Alphonse by his name, and I'm not exactly in the military anymore." Roy acquiesced with a nod, comment forgotten as he faced towards the city once more.

A thought came to him as he saw a glint of gold amongst the sea of houses.

"Come on," he said, getting up, "I'll show you something."

Ed frowned as they walked along the streets of Central, the sun just beginning to set on the horizon. They'd been walking for a few minutes now, his sense of direction failing him completely after numerous turns, but he relaxed as they came to a park he was acquainted with, a wizened old oak tree overlooking the centre of the little urban oasis of green.

"I've missed being able to do alchemy," he said after a moment, gazing at the tree as Roy looked over at him curiously. Striding over and picking up a fallen branch, he gently touched his hands together, producing a wooden rose in a crackle of alchemic lightning. He examined it idly, twirling it in his fingers. "I've forgotten how beautiful it can be."

Tossing it carelessly at Mustang, he started to walk again. Roy looked at the rose in his grasp in slight surprise- Ed's creations were usually showy, with gaudy embellishments; nothing like the delicate rose in his hands. Looking at it closely, he admired the fine petals, the stem free of thorns, the two spiked leaves below the budding bloom, before placing it carefully in his pocket and going after Edward, steering him around a corner as the teen frowned again.

"Mustang, where are we going? This is pointless-" Ed stopped short, glaring into the square they'd arrived in with dislike in his eyes. "There's a statue of me," he stated flatly, staring at the golden statue of a twelve-year-old 'Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hero of Amestris' hands poised to transmute, hair and coat flying in an imagined wind. He frowned again suddenly, his sharp eyes taking in the familiar way the whipping golden hair was formed, how his famous coat had been immortalised, around the base the faintest marks of a transmutation circle-

"This is your work," he accused, whirling to face Mustang, who'd stopped behind him. He dipped his head in acknowledgement of the fact, before walking forward to point around it, a little to the right.

"I was commissioned to make it, yes," he admitted in a low tone, "but that," he gestured, "is what I insisted upon." Ed walked to stand beside him, still grimacing in distaste, until he looked up and his eyes widened. A gleaming statue of Alphonse stood a little behind his likeness, a hand on the Ed's shoulder in a symbol of brotherly devotion. Flesh-and-blood Ed's mouth pressed shut, overcome with emotion as the two statues stood together, tall against the sky.

Roy's head jerked around in surprise as Ed's head clonked onto his shoulder quietly. He smiled gently, allowing himself to rest a hand on Ed's shoulder and draw him just a little closer.

Soon dark clouds gathered, threatening to burst open, and Roy gently nudged Ed, who was lost in thought, gazing at the statues, his head still on Roy's shoulder.

"It's about to rain," he said quietly. "Have you got a place to stay?" Grudgingly Ed disengaged his head from Roy's shoulder and shook his head slowly.

"I can stay in the military dorms..." At that moment the heavens burst open violently, soaking them both to the skin in a matter of seconds. Ed shivered in surprise as Roy shook his head, grabbing Ed by the wrist and dragging him down the street.

"It's not much," Roy said warningly, unlocking the door to his small flat, but Ed had already brushed off his words and drenched jacket and gone past him, disappearing into his small living room. Sighing, Roy hung up his coat and walked into the kitchen, surveying his desolate pantry and confirming take away as the preferred dinner for that night.

Ed quickly chanced upon Roy's collection of photo frames, most featuring a member of his team. Ed smiled softly as he admired them, seeing Riza's wickedly smiling face as she cleaned her gun, Breda, Falman and Havoc caught in the act of playing a practical joke on Fuery, and-

His smile widened gently as he looked at the first of the last three photos on the shelf, depicting his twelve-year-old self blowing up in a rant. Picking up the second, he looked fondly upon his smaller self sound asleep, snoring against Alphonse in his suit of armour, an alchemy book clearly having slipped from his grasp. But the third...

Roy came into the living room, glancing about for Ed and spying him looking through his photos, holding one closer to him as he gazed at it. He glanced up, seeing Roy in the doorway, and grinned.

"I didn't know this was taken!" He exclaimed, holding up a photo of a twelve-year-old Edward being awarded the State Alchemist pocket watch. There in the shadows of a corner stood Roy, smiling as he gazed at Edward proudly. Roy smiled. That was his favourite too.

Ed woke up in the morning with a yawn, sitting up on the couch he'd slept on and looking around to see if Mustang was up. He hadn't slept quite as well as he should- he was far too aware of Roy sleeping on the other side of the thin wall the couch was up against, and he could sometimes hear the bedsprings if he listened carefully.

He rubbed his eyes again, casting off the blanket and stumbling into the kitchen, expecting to see Roy reading a paper or something, but all he found was a note on the bench:

_Sorry I didn't tell you._

_RM._

At that moment the phone rang, echoing through the empty flat and around Ed's furiously working mind. Absently he picked up, still pondering the words on the scrap of paper.

"_Hello, General Mustang? This is Greg from the mover's place, we're just calling to say we've been delayed in picking up your things to be moved to Briggs- hello? Hello?"_

Ed's eyes flew open wide and he dropped the phone, grabbing his jacket and shoes, with only one thought: Find Hawkeye.

Riza's head was supported by her elbows on the desk, for once without the will to do paperwork. Across from her, Havoc spat out his cigarette in disgust, slumping over his desk in despair. A general feeling of gloom permeated the air, and no one in the mood for talking; their leader had packed up and left them, to go to Briggs of all places.

Fuery, closest to the door, looked up, hearing a noise. The sound of running footsteps came rapidly closer, and with a bang the door flew open, emitting a blond teen yelling, "Hawkeye!"

Ed skidded to a stop in front of her desk as she sat up in surprise, his breaths easing from panted gasps as he slowly surveyed the room, taking in the slumped positions and the depressed expressions of the people around him.

"He's really gone, isn't he?" He asked, and Riza nodded sombrely.

"He's leaving for Briggs. The train comes at ten." Ed glanced at the clock. Just less than fifteen minutes. His mind raced as he looked around at the dejected team.

"We need him back, don't we." It was not a question. Ed nodded, his face taking on its familiar determined look as he turned and strode towards the door, only to be stopped by Riza;

"Edward-" He paused, showing he was listening. "He decided because of you. He couldn't stand it." He turned to look at her, distressed confusion on his face, before it abruptly changed to shocked realisation, and renewed determination settled into his features as he nodded. Riza hesitated half a second, then stopped him again. "Ed- your coat's over there." Riza pointed to the battered old red coat hanging next to the door, with the familiar Flamel emblazoned on the back. Ed looked at it for a long, fond moment, then shook his head slowly.

"I've outgrown it."

He ran out of the room.

Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, virtually flew over the pavement, golden hair whipping about his face as he sprinted through the train station, pushing past the crowds of people and blasting away any wall in his path in a haze of alchemical light, calling,

"Roy! Colonel Bastard!"

Roy Mustang looked up absently amongst his bags on the empty platform, before shaking his head, leaning against the platform wall. He'd clearly been dreaming, thinking he'd heard his alchemist's voice one last time. Even one last 'Colonel Bastard' would've been nice-

"COLONEL BASTARD!" came a faraway yell, and he blinked. Okay, now that wish had been granted... He sighed once more.

"Roy Mustang," came a deceptively calm voice from behind him, and he started, spinning around to see a vexed Edward standing before him, arms crossed, hair whipping about in the wake of a train, golden eyes ablaze with a fearsome light, alchemy still crackling about holes blasted through platform walls and a public toilet, with crowds of people still recovering from the steamroller that was an angry State-qualified Alchemist.

"Roy Mustang," Edward said again dangerously, sending an apprehensive shiver down Roy's spine, "I still haven't gotten around to telling you about anything yet, and I still have three years' worth of rants saved up to use on you, and you leave and DON'T TELL ME?"

Edward strode forward, backing him up to the platform wall, his arms still crossed. "Do you really think I would've bothered to stick around if I didn't have something to tell you?" At Roy's apparent petrifaction, Ed snorted derisively, stepping forward to grab Roy by the lapels and kiss him on the mouth. After a moment he stepped back, still a little out of breath from his sprint, and Roy stared at him, still frozen. Ed sighed, resignedly running a hand through his hair and turning to walk away, only to be stopped by Roy catching his arm and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

They finally broke apart as the train slowed to pull into the platform, both a little out of breath, and Ed fixed a beady eye on Roy as people began to trickle onto the platform.

"You are not getting onto that train." He said, brooking no argument as Roy nodded meekly. "And Mustang, I still don't have a place to sleep, so I'll be staying at your place." Roy nodded again, this time gathering the courage to slip a 'casual' arm around Ed's shoulders, relaxing when Ed nestled closer as together they left the station.

"...call me Roy?"

"Maybe, bastard."


End file.
